Catching up: Ugly, Group, Flag and Chocolate

I sort of dropped off LJ for a bit this year, despite my best intentions, so I managed to get horribly behind. I debated just starting up from a month or so ago, but I figured I could work my way through things (with cut tags!) and maybe manage to actually complete all of this year's prompts before the year was over!

Ugly

This was a totem we spotted down near Monterey, California, as I recall. I'm not even sure what possessed me to take a photo of it!

Group

I managed to get a relatively decent shot of the group Apocalyptica at their concert this last month.

Flag

The flag flying in a stiff breeze at the World's Largest Thermometer in Baker, California... at the turn-off for Death Valley.

Chocolate

Not as exciting, but something that made me very happy... my first try making chocolate ice cream using lactose-free sour cream in place of whipping cream in the recipe. It turned out beautifully!

I stopped in to get the Geocaches there and to buy a Geocoin (which is a sort of trackable coin that you can use in Geocaching... the one they were selling was designed to look like the thermometer) driving from my mom's place in Nevada (out near Death Valley) down to San Diego.

I always love it when people also catch up with oder prompts! That totem certainly fits the prompt, and how awesome that you've seen and listened to Apocalyptica life! The flag shot is awesome, with tall post/sign besides the flag, and everything colour-coded. And that chocolate sounds yummy! Sour cream instead of whipped cream... sounds interesting, I have to try this. I'm lactose intolerant, too, but also allergic to cow and sheep milk so I can't use any lactose free dairy products, but I found vegan or dairy free recipes that work really well, as the used soy-based cream already contains emulgents, which is said to make the ice-cream-making process easier. I can also get a really good soy sour cream these days, which tastes awesome as it's also been fermented, like the original, but I haven't tried it with ice cream yet.

I'm not sure how well it would work with vegan sour cream, just because the texture is so different (before I figured out my problem was with the lactose, I spent a year or so avoiding all dairy... so I got to try out all sorts of vegan alternatives). It's worth, trying, though!